Shock-absorber.



1. l. WOOLSEY.

SHOCK ABSORBER. APPLICATION FILED saw. 20. ms

Patented Apr. 30, 1918.

9 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESS l. 1. WOOLSEY.

SHOCK ABSORBER.

APPLICAUON FILED SEPT. 20. ms.

1,264,469. Patented Apr. 30, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN VENTOR W I'INESSES:

UNITED sT Tijis PATENT OFFICE.

t I 4 I v JOHN J. WOOLSEY, OF BERKELIBY, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO G. H. HUBD, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

- SHOCK-ABSORBER.

To all whom, it mug) concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. l'voonsnv, a

citizen of the United States. residing at .State of California, liave invented new and useful Improvements in Shock-Absorbers,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shock absorbers for vehicles, particularly automobiles, and has for its object to simplify and improve the construction and operation of such devices.

' In the usual type of shock absorber to which this invention relates, the ordinary leaf spring is connected at one end to a lever arm, and the latter is fulcrumed on a portion of the axle. The free end of the lever arm is connected to a spring which is attached to the overlying frame or supported upon the leaf spring itself. Such an arrangement requires separate s rings for each lever arm. and necessitates tie use.

of shorter and stiffer springs than is desirable to give the required degreeof cushion.

"In operation these separate springs will ha vefiunequal strains imposed upon them, inasmueh as a shock at one corner of the automobile will'cause the majority of the load to be transmitted to the ad acent spring, while the opposite spring will be almost entirely relieved of the load. In many instances these separate and independent shock absorbing springs do not haw the same resilience, and therefore there is not an equality of cushioning at all points on the car. The connection of these springs to the overlying frame also c; uses an exressive strain to be imposed upon the superstructure.

In the present invention I employ in combination with the usual load supporting leaf springs of an automobile. lever arms between the springs and the axle arranged so that the oppositely disposed lever arms have. their free ends movable away from each other when the springs are under compres sion, and a spring connection between the free ends of the oppositely disposed lever arms whereby the inter-connected parts act.- in series to relieve the shocks, and a longer shock absorbing spring is made possible, and the other objections already noted, ()\(1 come.

In the accompanying drawing 1 have shown in Figure 1 an application of my Specification of Letters Patent.

, Application .flled September 20, .1816. Serial No. 121,105.

invention to the front spring of a well known type of automobile,

Fig. 2 shows an elevation of the rear spring of the same type of automobile equipped with my invention.

Fig. 3tshows a plan view in detail of the connections employed on the rear spring.

Fig. 4 shows an elevation of a different type of load supporting leaf springs embodying my invention.

In Fig. 1, a front elliptical h. f spring 10 transversely disposed is connected at its opposite ends to bent or hell crank levers 11 by means of short links 12. A bracket or standard 13 rigid with the axle, forms a fulcrum support for each of the bell crank levers, and the free ends of the levers project downwardly and inwardly. The downwardly projecting ends of the levers at opposite ends of the spring are movable away from each other when the spring 10 under compression, and these free or oppositely movable ends are connected together by means of a contractile coil spring"; ..l: extending parallel with the axis of the vehicle. 'lhc bell crank levers may be forked to straddle the axle, and in such cases I prefer to employ a spring 14 on either side of the axle.

rear spring is shown m Fig. :3 and a similar shock absorbing device applied thereto, with the exception that hanger bars 15 are employed in the spring connections It to support the same over the ditierential housing. Such hanger bars are suspended from the overlying frame and free to move endwisc so that the springs at. opposite ends work in unison and in ett'eet constitute a single spring.

As shown in Fig. 4: my invention may be applied to a type of load supporting springs wherein the leaves 16 are longitudinally dis-- posed. In this instance the. front and rear springs on one side of the automobile hm e their bell crank levers 17 extended done wardl v .'with the free ends movable awn from each other. and connected together by a single spring 15 very much in the manner of the forms already described.

It is obvious that an improved CllSlilOlill' oiou will result. from the above arrangd ment. inasmuch as the shocks will be equ' "lly distributed upon opposite ends of the si igle leaf spring or upon adjacent ends ofi opposite leaf springs. The interconnected bell crank levers will cooperate in such a way that a shock received by one will be transmitted to the other through the medium of the coil spring connection. When one hell crank lever is moved downwardly the coopc ating one is simultaneously pulled upwardly, so that both act together and in series at all times to support the load. When not connected together in this we y, one bell crank lever and its individual shock absorb- ;ing spring will receive the shock from its respective wheel, in conscqmance of which a large proportion of the weight of the auto mo fi e at this end will be supported by the 1:: single shock absorbing spring, whereas an ppositely disposed shock absorbin spring will be relieved to a large extent rom the weight of the load. This means that larger and stifi'cr springs must be employed with a comequeut interference with the freedom of cushioning, and in spite of this the excesshe strains imposed upon the individual springs will result in an early destruction thereof. It will he noted also that by the connection of opposite bell crank levers to gether. there is no excessive strain imposed upon the superstructure as when the individ ml springs are employed for each bell crank lever and such springs connected to the over] ing frame.

In ad ition to the foregoing advantages there is a simplification in parts and a resultant economy of construction by the use of one sprin in the place of two.

()iher mmi ificaiions and arrangements in tion to those shown and described may thuously be employed without departing from the spirit of my invention as disclosed. n the appended claims.

H .n inp thus described my invention, what 1' wild and desire to secure by Letters Patlnt is? i, In ivehirle, a leaf spring between the axle and body hell crank levers pivoted between their ends to the axle, the bell Clttllks having up )(n' arms extending toward and disposed core the ends of the leaf spring and having rigid lower arms extending toward the center of the axle, a coil spring; connection between said lower arms of the hell cranks. and links connected to the upper ends of the bell cranks and depending therefrom and connected to the respective ends of the leaf spring.

2. In a vehicle, a leaf spring between the axle and body, forked bell crank levers pivoted between. their ends to the axle and straddling the latter, the bell cranks having: upper arms extending toward and disposed above the ends of the leaf spring and having rigid lower arms extending toward the .center of the axle, pivotally suspended hanger bars depending from the vehicle, and coil springs connected at their ends to the hanger bars and to the lower arms of the hell cranks, and links connected to the upper ends of the hell cranks and depending therefroni and connected to the respective ends of the leaf witnesses.

JOHN J. W ()OLSEY. Witnesses:

JOHN H. Hnunnvc,

W. W. HEALEY. 

